Ship emissions reduction using weather ship routing optimisation

Abstract

A significant proportion of global carbon dioxide emissions are attributed to ocean-sailing ships and shipping emissions are predicted to double in less than 30 years. This paper investigates the benefit of using weather ship routing optimisation, assessing the ship emissions for minimum distance routes and optimised routes. The present contribution merges the estimation of shipping pollutants and their mitigation through weather routing optimisation; two lines of research widely analysed separately but seldom discussed together. A previously developed open software of weather ship routing is used to obtain the minimum cost (i.e. optimised route) in terms of sailing time, using high-resolution wave forecasting. The assessment of fuel consumption and ship emissions calculations were inspired by the STEAM2 bottom-up approach, in conjunction with the estimation of the power increase needed to overcome speed decrement due to waves. Several scenarios covering the Western Mediterranean Short Sea Shipping routes (from 24 to 600 nautical miles and using a real Ro-Pax vessel) are compared in terms of emissions between the minimum distance route and the optimum. The ship routing optimisation reveals a reduction up to 30% of ship emissions during severe storms on longer routes. Nevertheless, all the cases studied show emissions mitigation when ship routing optimisation is used. The expected increase of extreme weather events, in terms of frequency, intensity and duration due to climate change, suggests a gradual gain of implementing weather ship routing optimisation in all types of routes, regardless of the distance.

Application of fuzzy cellular automata to optimize a vessel route considering the forecasted hydrometeorological conditions

“…The planning of the passage of the ship over long distances with the forecast of weather conditions, unlike that given in [4,11], is represented in time and space in a discrete form. At the same time, the sections of the recommended route bypass any obstacles and clearly ensure the fulfillment of the safety requirements of sailing.…”

“…Study [11] considered the advantages of optimizing the route of ships taking into account hydrometeorological conditions according to the received estimates of ship emissions for minimum distances. However, the work does not contain data on distances significantly different from the minimum.…”

Ship emission projections based on time series forecasting model for sustainable shipping in the strait of Malacca and Singapore

“…For SOMS being the only channel to connect maritime from the East and West, it is important to sustain the maritime activities in the waterway without much interference with one another [22] . In that sense, reducing the energy demand works on another way in lowering the ship emissions, such as route planning [23], weather routing [24], just-in-time arrival [25], Speed optimization [26], etc. Fundamentally, the shipping network need to be established with explicit routes identification [27] so as to facilitate aforementioned strategies.…”

Investigating exhaust gas emissions of yachts: Example of Turgutreis D‐Marin

“…In this study, emission values were calculated with the bottom‐up method by examining the actual engine power value of each of the yachts investigated in the study. The bottom‐up method is one of the main methods used for estimating the emissions produced by all ship types 58,74–82 . This method estimates emissions by examining the cruising, maneuvering, and hotelling phases of ships 83,84 .…”

“…The bottom-up method is one of the main methods used for estimating the emissions produced by all ship types. 58,[74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82] This method estimates emissions by examining the cruising, maneuvering, and hotelling phases of ships. 83,84 Looking specifically at the main and auxiliary engine powers of the yachts, this study investigated the emissions produced by the yacht movements in 2019 at the D-Marina located in Turgutreis, Mu gla/Bodrum, Turkey.…”